"Cecil Moore" wrote in message
. ..
Slow Code wrote:
Step 2: The passing score for written exams needs to be raised to 85%.
If 85% is good, wouldn't 100% be better?
Step 3: Code elements should be 13 wpm for General, and 20 wpm for Extra.
If 13/20 is good, wouldn't 30 wpm be better?
--
73, Cecil http://www.w5dxp.com
I had quit following this mundane thread for a while, looking in only on
occasion. I must wonder - it is being "recommended" "apparently" by "slow
code" to raise the CW rates to 13wpm General and 20wpm Extra.
DUH - we "were" there already.
I've said before and I'll say it again. I'm not a "code" lover, but I've
learned it and used it and sometimes listen to it. Will it save a life?
Probably not - but still - the chance is there just the same as for any
other mode. You use what you have available. CODE did NOT keep the crap off
the ham bands, so to put it back in or KEEP it in, is sort of useless to
argue about. While "I" think 5 wpm is about as easy as you're going to get -
it seems far too many still cry about it. Yes, you could make the written
tests tougher - but that sucks too - because in a sense - they're "not" any
tougher when you're being given the answers in a book. And most of those
books cover "just" enough to pass the exams - they by no means "teach" you
electronics. In days gone by - you had to have at least a basic grasp of
electronics to be able to pass the exams. I'm not saying you had to be a
"Technician" with years of experience - I'm saying you had to know more than
these books teach. At that time - you had NO clue what the FCC would ask.
I've still got sample study guides sent by the FCC if asked - and they were
"vague".
CODE, EXAMS - nothing will keep the riffraff off the bands. This is a
lawless society anymore - people do as they damned well please. CB got quiet
in many areas not due to Cell Phones - it happened long before. It happened
in many places based on what I've learned - because of the garbage. Ham will
be the same way if it isn't respected. We're in a NO WIN situation.
I find it amazing, people with illegal amps and radios will defend them to
the hilt - like a murderer caught with a smoking gun - claiming his/her
innocence. If the government agency deems them illegal - then they are - no
excuses. Just like the speed laws - if the road is marked 25, that is what
it is - plain and simple. If we all took responsbility for our actions -
maybe things wouldn't be so damned bad. I know lots of cbers who got out of
cb BECAUSE those with the illegal amps and radios "splashed" so bad, they
couldn't even talk on the radio. So, tell me again - how those illegal
radios and amps are helping? Hams have a rule of using the minimum necessary
to carry out the communications. IT DOES WORK! QRP (Low Power) is part of
the challenge! 500- 1000 watts or more - any dummy can do. If you want to be
known as an "Alligator" station - ALL mouth and NO ears.... keep using that
garbage. Who wants to talk to them? That is as irritating as static on an AM
radio station. Listen to Channel 6 on the CB - there is a guy who
constantly talks - HOW he hears anyone is beside me. I think he talks just
to hear himself talk. AND being he is in the south, he has to be running
some power. If everyone operated like that, the bands would be total chaos,
no one talking to anyone - only to themselves. How the FCC hasn't busted him
yet - is amazing.
Just my 2 cents.
L.